Human Rights Concern - Eritrea (HRCE) is an independent, non-profit making, human rights organization based in UK. The organization is dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights of Eritreans at home and all over the world. HRCE believes that all human beings are equal regardless of race, religion, gender and political affiliation and strives for a peaceful Eritrea where fundamental human rights are respected.

Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on Eritrea

Statement by the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

12 March 2018

Mr. President, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and gentlemen.

In recent years, OHCHR has engaged in dialogue with and provided technical assistance to the Government of Eritrea, including during a mission to Asmara, in October 2017. I will further elaborate on this engagement in an oral update, on Wednesday 14 March.

Today, however, I will focus on the human rights situation in Eritrea.

Since the Council’s last deliberations on this important question, in June 2017, our Office has continued to receive reports of severe curtailment of human rights in Eritrea.

In the past year, we have received worrying allegations of restrictions of freedom of religion, including allegations of arrests of over 100 persons practicing religions not officially recognized by the State, as well as the suppression of a protest outside an Islamic school after its 93 year old founder was arrested for opposing the takeover of the school by the State. The man died two weeks ago, after he was released from detention.

It remains difficult for us to verify such allegations and to assess the human rights situation in Eritrea given our restricted access to the country and the absence of independent actors – whether media, NGOs or others – to monitor and report on the situation inside the country.

This Council, as well as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Eritrea and the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea, have repeatedly called on the Government to allow human rights defenders and independent civil society organizations to operate without interference, and to permit independent human rights monitors unhindered access to the country, including to places of detention. I reiterate this call today.

In 2016, the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea found reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity, namely, enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, other inhumane acts, persecution, rape and murder, had been committed since 1991. The Commission noted that despite the State’s increased engagement with the international community, there was no evidence of progress in the field of human rights.

I regret to report that this state of affairs remains unchanged.

The Commission’s 2016 findings on extensive use of arbitrary arrest and detention remain relevant. Detainees are very rarely brought before a judge after arrest or tried, which enables enforced disappearance and the use of torture. We urge Eritrea to immediately release all those unlawfully and arbitrarily detained and fully respect their right to a fair trial; and to provide information on the whereabouts of disappeared persons and access to justice by family members.

The fear of arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention curtails freedom of expression, leaving no room for dissent or criticism. There is still no privately-owned media outlets, with the Government controlling the Eritrean TV channel, radio stations and the written press. In its 2017 World Press Freedom Index and Reporters Without Borders ranked Eritrea 179 out of 180 countries; and in 2015, the Committee to Protect Journalists ranked it as the most censored country in the world. The 2017 Information and Communication Technology development index compiled by the International Telecommunication Union ranked Eritrea last of 176 countries.

Eritreans continue to be subjected to indefinite military/national service. Conscripts are drafted for an open-ended duration of service beyond the 18 months provided for by law, often in abusive conditions, which include the use of torture, sexual violence and forced labour. Those who attempt to desert military service, often after years of conscription, are subjected to detention and punishment often amounting to torture, without an administrative or judicial proceeding. Given the abuses that occur in the context of the national service, the idea that this system is instrumental in addressing youth unemployment is abhorrent. We urge Eritrea to bring its national service in line with the country’s international human rights obligations.

Eritrea’s Constitution of 1997 has never been in full force, and we urge the Government to implement it without further delay. Further, the Government must introduce serious efforts to address impunity and hold those responsible for past and ongoing human rights violations to account.

OHCHR welcomes the Government’s increased engagement with the United Nations, including OHCHR, as well as with regional organizations and donors. We hope that this growing cooperation with international actors will lead to concrete steps to address human rights concerns.

During its second UPR in February 2014, Eritrea made important commitments, supporting 92 recommendations on issues ranging from social equality and development to liberties and freedoms; administration of justice to strengthening institutions and international engagement and cooperation. The Government has established a coordinating body to design a plan and framework for action (2015-2018) to implement the recommendations it accepted.

Implementing these commitments would be a good starting point for reform in Eritrea and means significant strides could made towards addressing its alarming human rights record.

Until then, human rights violations will continue to fuel a steady stream of asylum seekers from Eritrea. I must emphasize that UNHCR’s assessment of Eritrean asylum-seekers’ protection needs has remain unchanged since 2011. Some six years later, in June 2017, the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea advised this Council that there can be “no sustainable solution to the refugee outflows until the Government complies with its human rights obligations.” In their efforts to address migration and the situation of Eritrean refugees, I would also appeal to receiving countries to respect human rights and the principle of non-refoulement. Currently, the conditions do not exist for return agreements to be implemented safely.

Finally, I reiterate our calls for the Government to cooperate with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea and take into account the important recommendations she and the Commission of Inquiry have made to improve the human rights situation in the country.

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Recently, the Information Minister of Eritrea, Mr Yemane Gebermeskel, confirmed that indefinite National Service is going to remain without fundamental change, but that the government is planning to increase the present very low wages paid to conscripts: Eritrea won't shorten national service despite migration fears.

In effect, Eritrea is not prepared to stop forcing its youth into lengthy stretches of work as soldiers and civil servants, a conscription policy that is driving waves of refugees to leave the country to escape from compulsory National Service for an unlimited-period. Each month as many as 5,000 people flee Eritrea, according to U.N. figures.

National Service Labor

Legally, all Eritrean citizens, male and female, between the ages of 18 and 40, must complete 18 months of service to the state. But those who flee from the country say that this National Service can stretch to 15 years and even more. The government reserves the right to extend the length of service for any citizen without limit. Officially, compulsory military service does not extend beyond the age of 50, but one man was still in compulsory National Service at the age of 68. Eritreans in National Service receive military training for 6 months, and some may supposedly move into other government employment, including the civil service. At the end of active military service, citizens are supposed to have the right to return to their previous employment, but many are forced into government employment, only to become what might be termed “slave labourers” in construction and other industries, with no rights or freedom to leave this employment. During this period, the conscript is paid a wage, which is roughly equivalent to10 US Dollars per month.

In law and on paper, Eritrean military “training” (for 6 months) followed by “active military service” last in total for 18 months. Officially, when he or she has completed active military service, a conscripted citizen can leave the army. But a citizen who has completed active military service is often immediately and legally compelled to enter full time “Reserve” military service, which can extend “until he/she is released”. Anyone who tries to avoid or escape this compulsory employment is automatically imprisoned as an absconder, and severely tortured.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that everyone has the right to work and to free choice of employment in just and favourable conditions”, and the “right to just and favourable remuneration.” There is clearly no free choice of employment for anyone subjected to Eritrean National Service, notably when it ends and he or she is drafted into labour not of their choice, for which he or she is paid a pittance. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also declares that “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement within the borders of each state”, and the “right to leave his own country” to “seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” There is a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy, and no one who is involved in Eritrean National Service enjoys these rights to movement or to seek refuge elsewhere from an unjust regime.

The United Nations Human Rights Council appointed a Special Rapporteur to review human rights in Eritrea. In her 2014 report, she stated that the numbers of National service evaders or escapees and those suspected of wanting to flee or caught during flight.... may reach tens of thousands. ”Such persons are invariably arrested and detained. Detainees are held without being informed about the reason for their arrest and without an arrest warrant”. (sections 51 and 52). Eritrea justifies its retention of national service and harsh treatment of refugees and absconders from the military by citing continuing hostilities with Ethiopia.

But the Rapporteur declared, “Eritrea cannot use border disputes as an excuse to continue to violate its human rights obligation...the state obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights domestically is not dependent on external factors....The open-ended nature of national service is depriving the women and men of Eritrea of their most productive years, forcing them to cross borders to take their destiny into their own hands”. (sections 95 & 96)

In response to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Eritrea’s Human Rights in 2014, the government of Eritrea rejected recommendations to end enforced and indefinite-term military service, but stated that it had begun its demobilization programme in 2002. There is absolutely no evidence of any such demobilization. In the same UPR, the Government of Eritrea also rejected recommendations concerning conscription and abuse of child soldiers, stating that there is no under-age recruitment in Eritrea’s military. But students aged 16 and more are recruited every year into the Sawa Military Academy, starting their military training before they have become adults.

The Eritrean Government must listen to the international community and experts appointed by the United Nations and end the whole process of compulsory and indefinite National Military Service, putting a strict enforceable limit of not more than 18 months to the term of compulsory National Service; and Eritrea must offer non-military options for such Service. The Eritrean government must be told that conscripts are not slaves and they should not be held against their will in the military. No one must be arrested, imprisoned, or punished or shot for attempting to leave the military to lead a life of his/her choice, which is an inalienable right guaranteed under international law.